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A 400-calorie tiffin is easy. A 400-calorie tiffin that doesn't leave you at the office biscuit tin by 4 pm is the actual problem. The trick is simple: every box below carries at least 12 g of protein and real fibre, which is what buys you those four hours.
For most Indian adults, a day lands somewhere between 1,600 and 2,200 kcal. Lunch is usually 30–35% of that. So 400 kcal is a sensible working lunch if you also eat a proper breakfast and dinner — and a good target if you are trying to lose weight slowly.
It is not a target for everyone. If you do physical work, are under 18, are pregnant, or are already eating very little, 400 is too low. Run your own number first.
Six questions, and you get your daily calorie and protein target plus a free Indian diet plan built around it.
Get my free plan →| Tiffin | kcal | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| 2 roti + 1 katori rajma + cucumber salad | ~390 | ~14 g |
| Paneer bhurji (75 g) + 1 roti + salad | ~380 | ~18 g |
| Veg dalia khichdi (1.5 katori) + 1 katori curd | ~390 | ~14 g |
| Veg pulao (1 katori) + 1 katori curd | ~370 | ~12 g |
| 3 idli + 1 katori sambar + peanut chutney | ~360 | ~15 g |
| 2 besan chilla + mint chutney + 1 orange | ~350 | ~14 g |
| Kala chana chaat (50 g dry) + 1 roti | ~300 | ~14 g |
| Curd rice (1 katori rice + 150 g curd) + cucumber | ~280 | ~9 g |
Our calculations from ICMR-NIN Indian Food Composition Tables 2017, assuming 1 medium roti from ~30 g atta, 1 katori = ~150 g cooked, and 1 tsp oil per cooked dish. Estimates — your ghee hand is not our ghee hand.
The standard North Indian dabba, kept honest. The rajma katori is made from about 40 g dry beans with one teaspoon of oil in the tadka — no cream, no extra ghee on the roti.
Packing note: pack the salad separately or it will sweat into the roti by 1 pm.
The highest-protein box here at ~18 g. 75 g of paneer is enough; going to 150 g adds roughly 220 kcal and turns this into a 600-calorie lunch.
Broken wheat with moong dal, carrot, beans and peas. The most filling box on this list per calorie, because dalia is slow to digest.
Packing note: dalia thickens as it cools. Make it slightly loose in the morning.
One katori of pulao only — that's about 150 g cooked rice. The curd is doing double duty here: protein, and it makes a single katori of rice feel like a meal.
Watch out: restaurant-style pulao uses 2–3 tsp of ghee. Each extra teaspoon is ~45 kcal.
Travels better than almost anything else, and tastes fine at room temperature. Peanut chutney instead of coconut adds a few grams of protein for similar calories.
Zero morning prep beyond whisking besan. The orange is there because a tiffin with no fruit tends to become a tiffin followed by a 4 pm samosa.
The lightest protein-heavy option. Boil the chana on Sunday, keep it in the fridge, and assemble with onion, tomato, lemon and chaat masala in ninety seconds.
The lowest-calorie box, and the best one for summer or for an upset stomach. It is also the lowest in protein (~9 g), so pair it with a protein-heavy breakfast that day — or add a katori of boiled chana to the box.
Don't memorise lists. Use the ratio:
That lands between 385 and 435 kcal almost every time, whatever the cuisine.
Log today's tiffin in the tracker, or tell the coach what you packed and let it do the arithmetic.
Track today Ask the coachCooked-dish figures are our own calculations from the raw-ingredient values above, using standard home portions. Treat them as estimates. This article is educational information, not medical or nutrition advice.
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